Struck by liver cancer, Chinese dissident Liu Xiaobo dies

Chinese Peace Prize laureate Liu Xiaobo, a prominent dissident since the 1989 Tiananmen Square pro-democracy protests, died on Thursday from multiple organ failure, having not been allowed to leave the country for treatment for late-stage liver cancer.

Liu, 61, was jailed for 11 years in 2009 for "inciting subversion of state power" after he helped write a petition known as "Charter 08" calling for sweeping political reforms.

Already seriously ill, he was moved last month from prison to a hospital in the northeastern city of Shenyang to be treated.

The Shenyang Bureau of Justice said in a brief statement on its website that Liu had suffered multiple organ failure and efforts to save him had failed. Despite being given multiple forms of treatment his illness had continued to worsen, it added.

The hospital treating him confirmed in a separate statement the cause of death.